Vientiane, Mar 4 (IANS): The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Monsoon Wind Power Company Limited have signed a $692.55-million loan agreement to build a wind power plant in Laos.

Comprising 133 wind turbines with a capacity of 600 MW, the Monsoon Wind Power Project will be the largest wind power plant in Southeast Asia and the first in Laos, according to a report released by the ADB on Friday.

The wind power plant will be constructed in southern Laos' Sekong and Attapeu provinces. Electricity generated by the plant will be sold to the state-owned Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), Xinhua news agency reported.

Cross-border power supply has been a pillar of Laos' economic growth. Harnessing the landlocked country's untapped wind resources can provide energy diversification as the seasonality of the wind resource is countercyclical to the rainy season, which supports the Lao hydropower generation.

The project will give a significant boost to decarbonisation and green growth. It will reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by at least 748,867 ton of carbon dioxide, according to the ADB report.

"Developing economies in Asia and the Pacific face shortfalls in climate investments that are needed to clear a pathway to green growth," the report quoted ADB Private Sector Operations Department Director General Suzanne Gaboury as saying.

"The financing from ADB and its partners will help unlock the Laos' untapped wind resources, providing a basis for a transition to clean energy and green growth that will have lasting benefits for the economy," the report said.